The 10 OPEC countries in the cartel's output quota system increased production by 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) in May, the Middle East Economic Survey (MEES) reported Monday, June 18.

The industry newsletter said the cartel's overall output, excluding OPEC member Iraq which is exempted from the quota system because of an 11-year-old embargo, rose to 24.86 million bpd in May compared to 24.79 million bpd in April.

The agreed OPEC quota allocation from the start of April 1 stands at 24.201 million bpd.

"Most OPEC members states showed modest increases over their quotas," MEES said, adding that output from the United Arab Emirates remained 93,000 barrels under its quota because of regular maintenance during the second half of April and first week of May.

Indonesia produced 1.22 million bpd, down from its quota of 1.255 million bpd, while Nigeria's output declined 50,000 barrels to 2.15 million bpd, still 157,000 barrels above its quota, MEES said.

Outside the quota system, Iraqi production increased to 2.87 million bpd compared to 2.85 million bpd in April and 2.6 million bpd the previous month, the Cyprus-based weekly said.

Iraq's output comprised 2.27 million bpd in exports under the UN-supervised oil-for-food humanitarian program, while 600,000 bpd were used for domestic refineries and cross-border trade with Jordan, Syria, Turkey and the Gulf.

But Iraq announced on June 4 that it had halted oil-for-food exports in protest at a one-month rollover of the program ordered by the Security Council three days earlier instead of the usual six-month extension.

The council decided to extend the phase -- the ninth since the start of the program in December 1996 -- by one month instead of starting a new phase. It is discussing proposals to bring in a new sanctions regime when it next extends the program on July 3.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has left output levels unchanged in response, but scheduled a meeting for July 3 to review the oil supply situation in light of the Iraq-UN stand-off.

The cartel promised that it would do all it could to ensure stability on the market despite the volatility of Iraqi exports, which at more than two million barrels a day amount to some five percent of world exports.